TALENT-SPOTTERS from the British Sledge Hockey Association arrived in the region at the weekend to find new blood for their next winter paralympic team.

Players and organisers took to the ice in Victoria Gardens, Middlesbrough, Teesside, to give a display of the sport, after which members of the public and disabled people were invited to have a go.

The sport has been described as ice hockey for the disabled - although able-bodied people can also take part.

Bill Levick, secretary of the British Sledge Hockey Association, said: "It is similar to ice hockey except the players sit in a small sledge about four inches off the ice and use slightly smaller sticks.

"These sticks have spikes on one side which the players use to push themselves around the ice. Players wear the full protective gear, plus a full-face guard to protect them from the puck, as they are so much nearer to the ground."

Britain has six clubs at present, and Mr Levick hoped to drum up interest on Saturday to create a sledge hockey club in the North-East.

He said: "The sport has been around since the early Sixties, but only took off in England in the early Eighties.

"We have come a long way since then, and now we want to spread the word and form a league. We find it very difficult to gain ice time on rinks to practice, so any awareness-raising of this sport is very useful.